Not just any walk in the park

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This article was published 07/06/2013 (4731 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fighting crime usually isn’t a walk in the park, but North Point Douglas may be the exception as residents there work to keep the drug trade out of their neighbourhood.

And they’re taking their canine pals with them as they face off against crack dealers and pester them to leave the area.

“We’re just reminding all the drug dealers that this is a public park and we like to come here, and we don’t really enjoy drug dealing around us. So, go elsewhere,” said Chris Burrows, an organizer of Thursday’s walk in Joe Zuken Park.

With her dog, Zarzy, at her side, Burrows and some friends and neighbours walked their dogs as a show of strength and commitment to keeping their park safe.

Six years ago, the group held a similar walk. Over the course of three days, they approached people who were dealing in the park — until the crack dealers stopped coming.

Roanna Hepburn, who walked with her dog, Bentley, said the neighbourhood went several years without a drug problem in the park, until recently. “I noticed that there was a lot of punks around this area that are selling drugs blatantly… they’re not even trying to hide it,” Hepburn said.

She and her friends knew it was time to face the problem head on — again.

“We have a lot of families that moved into this area with children and they’re good parents, and they’re concerned about their children,” Hepburn said. “We don’t want these people to move. So we are taking back our community again.”

The neighbourhood has also been fighting back in other ways. After the first walk, Burrows and her husband, Sel, set up a tip line called Powerline that lets people report any suspicious activity they notice. That information is then given to police.

And it seems to be working. Six years ago, the tip line would receive 50 to 70 calls a week. Now, it’s down to three a week.

The community’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by the city. Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski ward) said he’s happy with what Powerline has achieved in North Point Douglas.

“I like this concept where you have people living in the community and basically saying, ‘We don’t want this activity happening here,'” he said.

“Chris and Sel are getting older, and so are the women who are walking the dogs. We need to find younger people to also get involved and continue these kind of things.”

The message the park walkers are sending is clear, Chris Burrows said.

“Not in our park, thank you! Go back to a back lane somewhere if you really have to deal,” she said. “Actually, the best thing, go back to school.”

oliver.sachgau@freepress.mb.ca